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Chris Nickson Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

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Chris Nickson

Chris Nickson

Chris Nickson Biography

Chris Nickson has written since he was a boy growing up in Leeds. At 21, he moved to the US, and spent the next 30 years there, returning to England in 2005, and finally full circle to Leeds. He's made a living as a writer since 1994, initially as a music journalist, specializing in world and roots music. These days there's far less of that, but he still produces a few articles and several reviews a year. He authored The NPR Casual Listener's Guide to World Music, a volume that's now long out of date.

His first novel, The Broken Token, came out in 2010, featuring Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds in the 1730s (there was a real Richard Nottingham, and that was his post, although it was probably largely ceremonial). There have been eight books in this series. Cold Cruel Winter was named one of the Best Mysteries of the Year by Library Journal. The audio version of The Broken Token was one of the Independent on Sunday's Audiobooks of the Year.

Emerald City and West Seattle Blues, the first two books featuring Seattle music journalist Laura Benton, are available on ebook and audiobook.

The Crooked Spire is set in Chesterfield in 1361. The other two in the series are The Saltergate Psalter and The Holywell Dead.

Nickson's Victorian series is set in Leeds in the 1890s and features Detective Inspector Tom Harper. Gods of Gold is the first volume, followed by Two Bronze Pennies, Skin Like Silver, The Iron Water, On Copper Street, The Tin God, Leaden Heart, The Molten City, and Brass Lives.

Dark Briggate Blues is a 1950s noir, with enquiry agent Dan Markham, also takes place in Leeds, as does The New Eastgate Swing, the second volume to feature Markham.

Nickson is also the author of Solid Air – The Life of John Martyn, and the Simon Westow novels.

Chris Nickson's website

This bio was last updated on 02/11/2022. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

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Books by this Author

Books by Chris Nickson at BookBrowse
Rusted Souls jacket A Dark Steel Death jacket The Blood Covenant jacket To the Dark jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Chris Nickson but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Emma Donoghue

    Emma Donoghue

    Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Hocus Girl

    Try:
    Frog Music
    by Emma Donoghue

  • Lyndsay Faye

    Lyndsay Faye

    Lyndsay Faye moved to Manhattan in 2005 to audition as a professional actress; her schedule opened up when her day-job restaurant was knocked down with bulldozers. Her first novel Dust and Shadow: an Account of the Ripper ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Hocus Girl

    Try:
    The Gods of Gotham
    by Lyndsay Faye

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